


Survivors

by thequidditchpitch_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Drabble, Drama, Post-War, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-03
Updated: 2008-11-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 14:39:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10811037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequidditchpitch_archivist/pseuds/thequidditchpitch_archivist
Summary: When the smoke clears from the Battle of Hogwarts, it is not only the deserving who survive.





	Survivors

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

The Great Hall still smouldered from the battle. Family members cried over bodies of loved ones. Faces you once knew well stared back at you with hollow eyes when people who had no right to do so lived on. You count yourself and your parents among those who _should_ be dead, though you are thankful your family was spared. Your parents chose the wrong side upon which to fight, and yet, there they were, still whole, still alive, still breathing, when others were not. And you—you had been foolish enough to believe they knew best. What a fool you were.

The moments you spend searching for her bushy head seem interminable. The world seems to have stopped spinning, and you only wish the spinning of your head and churning of your stomach would stop as well. With each passing moment, you become more and more desperate to see that wild tangle of brown curls that would confirm that she _had_ survived.

You feel your father's hand touch your shoulder in an attempt to lead you from the Hall unnoticed by those too overcome by grief to pay any mind. You shake him off and refuse to follow his lead. You _have_ to see for yourself she _is_ alive. You need to see with your own eyes that she _did_ make it through the battle, if not unscathed, at least still breathing.

Your own breath seems to have stilled and if someone placed their hand over your heart, chances are they would find your heartbeat absent. Why should your heart beat on, if per chance hers no longer did? What would be the purpose?

Then, you see her.

Hermione's hair is a wild tangle, just as you remember. Her face is streaked with soot and a deep cut is bleeding freely on her forearm. She is wrapped tightly in Weasley's arms with his lips on hers, but she is alive, and that is all that matters.

Fin.


End file.
